Late last year Rachel Payne MP raised the rapid expansion of Waste to Energy (WtE) in Victoria in Parliament. Despite serious environmental and health concerns, enormous rubbish incinerators are either being built or planned in a so-called “ring of fire” around Melbourne.
On Tuesday the 17th of February, a Bill to introduce retrospective vicarious liability laws for victim-survivors of institutional abuse is expected to pass with bipartisan support.
Residents in South-East Melbourne face skyrocketing home insurance premiums, high flood- related excesses and are struggling to get insured as new housing developments are proposed on historical floodplains.
Next year, more than 2,000 Victorian graduate nurses will be left without jobs.
Nurses are essential workers. During the Covid 19 pandemic, they got us through. We needed more and we got them. Record numbers of Victorians enrolled in nursing, but incredibly, many now can’t find jobs. An emergency funding package for graduate nurses is urgently needed, and we join the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation (ANMF) in calling on the Allan Labor Government to deliver it.
Begging is a criminal offence in Victoria. It is punishable by up to twelve months in prison. In the most progressive state, in one of the wealthiest countries in the world, you can go to prison for being poor.
Today, the Victorian Government introduced a bill to improve access to compensation for victim-survivors of institutional child abuse. It is our job as legislators to get the right outcome, and we commend the government for doing what we and countless have been calling for – the removal of absurd vicarious liability loopholes.
Today is National Survivor’s Day and while we commend the Victorian Government’s recent announcement that they will introduce retrospective vicarious liability laws by the end of the year, we are concerned that loopholes will be left in place for other “volunteer” employees.
On Wednesday the 8th of October, Rachel hosted a community health forum ‘In Conversation: Exploring Women’s Health and Cannabis’. From menstrual pain to menopause, cannabis is changing the conversation around women’s health. Watch Rachel and expert panellists, Tegan Scates and Lisa Nguyen, put the misinformation aside and talk about the science, stigma, and lived experience of women who use cannabis.
While abortion is now decriminalised in Victoria, access barriers ensure this procedure is being delayed and denied by stealth, and the Victorian government must urgently pull every lever to address this crisis.
Rubbish is a global problem, and Australians produce more of it than most. Victoria’s dumps are overflowing, and our recycling system has been a debacle. The Victorian Government’s solution is called “Waste to Energy” (WtE), which conjures images of our excessive lifestyles being harnessed to produce power — but it’s greenwashing.
